Driving SH99 from Wrights Bush to Riverton | Southland | New Zealand | 4K

Categories: Southland Region

Tags: driving, new zealand, riverton, southland, wrights bush

Added: 2 years ago

Driving SH99 from Wrights Bush to Riverton, in the Southland region, on the South Coast of New Zealand's South Island.

Riverton (Aparima) is a small seaside town located at the end of Oreti Beach, about 30km from Invercargill on SH99 the Southern Scenic Route. The town is one of the most popular in the Western Southland area and has many attractions. The town is set in a picturesque location close to the sea, and covers both sides of the estuary of the Jacobs River (also known as the Aparima River)

The beaches and estuary surrounding the town are natural playgrounds, Taramea Bay is very popular as it provides safe swimming, while Mitchell's Bay is great for surfing. Dolphins regularly swim into the bays and up Aparima River.

At, Riverton is almost 200 years old and is one of the oldest European towns not just in Southland, but in all of New Zealand. The main streets of Riverton are dotted with local artists' studios and a many cafes, vintage shops, and local goods stores. The two-day Easter carnival run by the Riverton Racing Club is Southland's best-known race meeting. The Riverton heritage centre,Te Hīkoi, opened in 2007.

Before the arrival of Europeans, Riverton was home to a substantial Maori pa called Aparima, the inhabitants attracted by the harbour and ample seafood. In the 1830s a whaling station was established by Captain John Howell in Riverton. He took a Maori woman of high rank as his wife and thereby acquired a lot of land. Today, Howell is remembered with a large memorial beside the Aparima River estuary.

Farming has been the most important economic activity in the district, but there has also been timber and flax milling, gold mining and fishing. Chinese miners worked at Round Hill in 1888. The port was once busy until a railway opened to Invercargill in 1879. Since then it has only been used for fishing and recreation.

Riverton has kept many colonial buildings, and cribs (small holiday homes) have been built on the west side of the estuary, and at the Rocks on Howell Point. Pleasure craft and fishing boats ply the adjacent seas.